Chosen
by Potterworm
Summary: Harry wanted to win the war more than anything, so when Dumbledore told him that bonding with a veela Malfoy as his mate would help the war effort, he did it.


**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Dedicated to: **This story is for Southern Amateur, the winning bidder of my Harry Potter auction for the Support Stacie Author Auction. Hope you like it, Southern Amateur!

**Summary: **Harry wanted to win the war more than anything, so when Dumbledore told him that bonding with a veela Malfoy as his mate would help the war effort, he did it.

**Chosen**

"My dear boy, I know this has come as quite a shock to you," Dumbledore said, his hands clasped and his glasses leaning over so slightly forward on the bridge of his nose. Harry could see his eyes more closely now.

"Professor -" Harry said, and then stopped. He couldn't talk, because he knew - knew without a shadow of a doubt - that if he said anything, he would come across as ignorant and childish. The last things he needed to be seen as. Still - he _needed _to say something. "Are you certain?"

"Yes, Harry, the bond is real. Though I was already quite familiar with the physiology of veelas, I did search for other options," Dumbledore said then.

Harry didn't doubt that it was true. He could already picture Dumbledore in his office pouring over rare tomes and absorbing all he could about ancient veela lore. It wasn't Dumbledore's reaction to the news that he doubted - it was his motivation for that reaction. Harry didn't say anything in response to Dumbledore's reassurance, just waited in the chair before his headmaster, the very picture of a schoolboy.

"It is true that the bond does not affect the mate. You could, if you so wished, ignore the bond. You would be missing out on a wonderful love, and a companionship you would be unlikely to find elsewhere, but would face no physical consequences," Dumbledore said mildly. "However, Mr. Malfoy would pay the price. I'm afraid he would pass away - within the year, most likely."

Harry nodded, as though absorbing the death sentence he would be laying down on his fellow classmate. His eyes were slightly wide, and his lips were pulled just a little tighter than natural.

"It is both a terrible curse and wonderful gift that the veelas have. With their bonded mate, veelas are exceptionally gentle and forever loving. Without them -" Dumbledore paused for effect. "-they are left to a terrible fate. A half-life of constant longing and magic left wild from the lack of their soul mate to sooth them, and then, eventually, if left without their chosen one, they pass away."

"And you're certain?" Harry said now, because not speaking after the dramatic climax would not do anything for him. He had noticed Dumbledore's word choice, playing to Harry's sense of personal responsibility. "You're absolutely _certain_ that Malfoy will die if I do not bond with him?"

"I am certain, my dear boy," said Dumbledore. He leaned back slightly in his chair, seemingly allowing Harry to absorb this piece of information.

Harry allowed the silence. If this was his fifth year, he would've been surprised by the information that Dumbledore had willingly relayed. Even without Dumbledore's fears of Voldemort seeing through his eyes, Harry had still not be treated as anything more than a child to be protected. Sixth year had changed that though - with an attack on Hogsmeade bringing the war to Hogwarts doors. Three students had been killed. Dozens had been injured, Harry included.

After the out-lash from the media and Harry's own demands to Dumbledore that he had been unable to do more than stall for time, because he just didn't know enough about war strategy, and wasn't that a shame, since he was supposedly the only one who could end the war, he had been allowed more information. He had started attending Order meetings and had even been given private training sessions by various Aurors.

Harry was smart though, smarter than most realized, and he knew that he wasn't given nearly as much information about the war as the adults of the Order liked to pretend he was. He was still a child, being placated, but he knew that Dumbledore held information back, sometimes with good intentions and sometimes without. Dumbledore revealed this information now because Harry needed it and would demand it if necessary, and Dumbledore saw no reason to deny him.

Now, Harry was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"I know this must be upsetting for you, Harry," Dumbledore continued then, and Harry played his part, grimacing slightly. "However, there are strategic ramifications to this that must be considered."

And there it was.

"Though it is unlikely that Lucius Malfoy will ever adopt a different viewpoint in this war, gaining Draco Malfoy as an ally in this war will have positive ramifications. Draco is very near to his majority, as proven by the maturing of his veela half, and therefore he will be able to gain influence as the head of his family, since his father, on the run, has otherwise abandoned said duties."

"Mr. Malfoy won't acknowledge a veela for his heir, will he?" Harry said dully. He knew the answer, knew all the pureblood family's stance on various creatures' rights, but he wanted to know what Dumbledore thought all the same.

"It is unlikely that he will publicly acknowledge Draco, yes," Dumbledore replied. "Draco's heritage only came as such a surprise to me because of Lucius hiding his own, of course. However, Lucius Malfoy - for all his faults - _loves _his son."

And love, of course, was Harry's power in the war.

"He will likely encourage Draco to come to Voldemort's side - and you, as his mate, will also be granted a reprieve from attacks, at least as many as Lucius can manage. This will allow you to gain an understanding with many low-level Death Eaters, and perhaps, if luck is with us, Voldemort will be tempted to sway you - the mate of a powerful veela - to his side again." Dumbledore relayed the plan calmly, but seriously, with the confidence and firmness of a general who knew that his plan simply could not be allowed to fail.

"And this will likely distract Voldemort from the war cause. It's a good plan," Harry conceded. "What's the final goal though?"

"To become close enough to Voldemort to end the war, of course," the headmaster said genially.

Of course. It was _that _simple.

Harry had discussed war strategy with the headmaster before, had been treated to several conversations where his opinions were genuinely counted. This was the first time, since the reveal of the prophecy after Sirius' death, that the headmaster had asked something substantial of Harry. Harry had been asked to train, asked to learn, asked to keep his head down and do what he was told, but -

"When the war is over, headmaster…" Harry said, pausing. "I'll still be bonded to Malfoy, won't I? It's a life bond?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said, and he bowed his head slightly, as though shamed by what he was asking a boy of only seventeen to do. "It is, in fact, a life bond."

"And what does the bond entail - exactly?" Harry said, not just a bit tersely.

"The bond, though generally seen like a marriage, involves the meeting of magics, the combination of both magic and soul. Contact is crucial, and distance, particularly during Mr. Malfoy's mating months, will be particularly detrimental to both of you. Mr. Malfoy will also be rather protective and possessive of you at all times."

Harry breathed deeply. He could never be an Auror, and it was unlikely he could be a Quidditch player. He knew veelas were also immensely possessive, so the possibility of having anything resembling a separation in later years would be impossible. During Malfoy's mating months, Harry would have to focus on nothing other than the bond. He would never be able to have a family, a wish that he had harbored in the back of his mind for many years. A life beyond Malfoy, beyond fate forcing not only his position in the war and as a savior, but also his romantic life - a life like that would be denied to him.

But gaining Draco Malfoy as an ally could change the war - could gain him closeness to the Death Eaters or even Voldemort. He could lull them into a false sense of security.

This could win the war. It was the one thing Harry wanted more than a family and a life where he would love someone as much as they loved him.

"Headmaster, how do I do about initiating the bond?" Harry interrupted.

Dumbledore smiled.

---

Harry had assumed consummation would be apart of the bond. It was a soul bond, with a veela nonetheless, and Harry wasn't an _imbecile. _He knew what those entailed, had even read up specifically on veela bonding in the week after leaving Dumbledore's office before the bonding was actually to take place.

He hadn't realized how primal the experience would be though. Malfoy moved at him with the agility of an animal, the moment they were in their new quarters. He was slammed up against a book shelf and his head pulled towards Malfoy's. He was not merely guided towards the bedroom, but forced there.

He supposed he had enjoyed it. He was seventeen, after all.

But afterwards, when Malfoy had curled up next to him and fallen asleep, cooing like a pleased bird, he couldn't help but shake the trapped feeling he had. He had just had sex for the first time with the same person who had cursed him and his friends at every opportunity for their entire school career.

If he hadn't, Malfoy would've died, and sworn enemy or not, Malfoy really was just a _kid _- he didn't deserve that. But it was either have sex with him or have him _die_. That wasn't much of a choice at all.

Harry closed his eyes and tried to convince himself that the sense of wrongness he had now, the feeling that he had had absolutely no choice in this matter, was not worth worrying about.

But he couldn't deny that Malfoy had taken something from him tonight, and Harry wasn't sure he could get it back.

----

When Harry ate lunch at the Gryffindor table for the first time after the bonding, his friends tried to act normally. They had known for over a week after all - he had told them the truth immediately. This wasn't his fault; he hadn't chosen this. This was _for the war, _a phrase that even Ron, with his hatred of Malfoy and his temper, was able to understand.

It was when Malfoy walked over to the Gryffindor table, muttered something in Harry's ear, and then led him away that they had a problem though. Harry ate at the Slytherin table, with Malfoy next to him, watching his every move, that day, the next day, and the day after that too.

Eventually, Hermione asked Harry if he wanted to sit over there, or if it was the veela's protective streak causing this. Harry muttered under his breath about the protective nature of veelas and Malfoy's demand that he not spend time around 'mudbloods' that he could spend with him.

He didn't talk to Hermione again for two weeks.

---

Harry quit Quidditch a month after the bonding, because Malfoy couldn't stand to see him so high in the air and in such danger. It had been a long, drawn out argument in their quarters, with yelling and glass flying (though where the glass had come from, Harry wasn't sure.)

Eventually, in their bed later, Harry had lain with as much space between the two of him as he could. He had agreed to quit Quidditch with gritted teeth. Having Malfoy on his side was important. It was _for the war, _and therefore it was more important than a silly child's game. It wasn't as though he was going to be playing professionally anyway.

He couldn't help but feel that he and Malfoy had had a married couple's fight. They weren't supposed to be married though.

---

Consummation was required but once to initiate the bond. Harry _knew _this, and Draco knew this, but still, Draco demanded they have intimate moments, and Harry couldn't resist, because of the damn allure.

Draco took him that night and every night for a week, and it was rough and primal, and it for the war, and Harry _hated _Malfoy - goddamn hated him every single moment of every single day.

---

Malfoy still wouldn't let him sit at the Gryffindor table, and though Harry thought he might be imagining it, but Dumbledore wasn't smiling nearly as much at 'the happy couple' as he had been at first.

It wasn't as though the plan had been to have Malfoy become sympathetic towards the Light's side of the war - even if that was possible, Malfoy didn't hold _that _much influence, for his opinion to end the war - but still, listening to Malfoy at the Slytherin table talk about mudbloods and torture and the Dark Lord - well, it made Harry wonder if he, himself, was actually capable of getting that close to the Dark side of the war.

Malfoy may have been caring and protective and _loving _in intimate moments or when Harry was on his mind, but he was still a teenage boy who wanted nothing more than to please his father and his father's master.

Malfoy hadn't seemed to realize that he himself was already someone's master.

---

"Malfoy-" Harry said, pausing in his homework. Malfoy approached, and his walk was oddly sensual. Harry glanced upward, and he was _gorgeous. _"Draco-" Harry said, his voice weak and need-filled.

Draco's lips turned upward, and then he pounced.

In the morning, Harry remembered every bit of it.

---

Malfoy didn't talk to Harry about school work or his friends. Harry didn't see his friends much anymore, after all. In their quarters, they didn't talk much, and even though Malfoy was attentive and interested in _his _mate, Harry sometimes got the impression that the human half of Malfoy still hated Harry as much as always.

It would've been comforting, but really, Malfoy only seemed to take more joy in humiliating Harry.

---

Harry woke up one morning to realize his back was scratched red. He reached for the healing balm he kept in his nightstand and applied it with the ease of someone familiar with the practice.

He supposed that was why he wasn't surprised when Hermione approached him for the first time in a week, when Malfoy wasn't there, and said, "Harry, I'm worried about you."

"Hmm…" Harry said, looking up from his Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. "Why?"

"I know that … Draco is your mate," Hermione said, and Harry stiffened. He may be Draco's _mate, _but Malfoy was not his, no matter what the situation seemed to be. "But he seems to be … overly possessive of you. Even for a veela."

To her surprise, Harry chuckled, and said, "I know, Hermione. But this is for the war."

"But… Harry, I've seen your wrists. They're bruised, and he doesn't treat you normally, even for him. Half the time, he seems to be in love with you, and the other half of the time…" Hermione hesitated, then straightened. "The other half of the time, it seems as though you're involved in a case of domestic abuse."

She seemed to be expecting some sort of revelation on Harry's part, but he couldn't give her one. He knew all of this already, but _this was for the war, _and he told her as much.

She shook her head sadly and said that some things should be more important. He said he knew, he wished they could be, but people were dying, and if fucking Malfoy and letting him be a little rough would help with that, he'd damn well do it.

Hermione didn't comment his vulgarity and didn't bring the subject up again.

---

Three months after the bonding, Harry realized that Malfoy had never once brought up the Dark Arts or Voldemort's cause in an attempt to sway him to the other side of the war. He had never met Malfoy's family, had never conversed with his friends, and had not learned a single piece of information.

Though Dumbledore had never outright said it, Harry knew his duty was to be a sort of spy, and if the headmaster's previous ramblings of love were true, to also fall in love. Harry had failed at both.

---

Four months after the bonding, Dumbledore called him into his office and asked him about his progress.

Harry relayed his message with the formality of a solider and didn't comment on the fact that he knew Hermione had complained to Dumbledore about the emotional ramifications of this _relationship. _(It had taken a week for Hermione and he to speak to each other properly after Harry had found out about that.) Dumbledore didn't mention it either, just told Harry that was disappointed that Harry was allowing his misguided hostility to dictate his role in the war.

Very disappointed, indeed.

---

Eventually, the school year ended. His classmates all moved on to new jobs and homes, and it took Harry an entire month to realize that Ron didn't live at the Burrow anymore, but with Hermione in a flat in London - and when had _that _happened?

Harry would've liked to see the moment his two friends realized they were in love.

Malfoy would've liked to see Harry miserable - and he had the control here.

---

Distantly, Harry watched as Malfoy forced himself on Harry that first night of his mating season. He wasn't in that bed, he wasn't being chased around the house, he wasn't being slammed into the bedpost, he wasn't being _forced. _He was just an outside observer.

---

The next two months: later, rinse, repeat.

---

Harry didn't have a job. Malfoy could provide for the both of them, and that way, they could easily have the contact Malfoy supposedly required so as not to become uncomfortable.

Sometimes, he thought of Ron at his Auror's training and wondered what it'd be like to be there too.

---

Harry saw Ginny at the market the other day. She was prettier than he remembered her being, back before this had all begun.

When he got home, Malfoy smelled her hug on him, and Harry remembered again just how possessive veelas could be.

---

To be fair to veelas, Malfoy wasn't some big-bad abuser. He was, after all, protective, and so he wouldn't knock Harry around - unless it was for some show of dominance.

Then it seemed that Malfoy couldn't decide between possessiveness and protectiveness, and so he exhibited neither in a healthy manner.

---

Two years after the bonding, three thousand Muggles died in what was assumed to be a horrific attack by unknown terrorists.

Malfoy hadn't been home that night.

---

Harry had never been recruited for the Dark side, so in the last two and a half years, Dumbledore seemed to have given up. He had stopped requesting meetings with Harry. Harry had no contact with his (old) friends either.

The Floo was always for Malfoy now.

---

Harry came across a mention of Ron and Hermione Weasley in the Prophet one day. He was completely surprised by it. He hadn't known.

---

Harry wanted to die.

---

Malfoy was a Death Eater; Harry was sure of it. He disappeared for long hours, and imagine Harry's surprise when Malfoy's goddamn veela half seemed to manage the lack of contact for that time just fine.

Harry tried to contact Dumbledore to ask him about joining the Order, officially. He had received a mildly scolding note back, telling him that Harry was doing his duty already. Plus, a thinly veiled fear that Malfoy would use their bond to track him and discover the Order's whereabouts was mentioned.

If Harry was a veela, an insult to his mate - the implications were clear; they thought Malfoy was dangerous - would've enraged him. But Harry wasn't, and he knew they were right. He could be tracked and traced, and he was no longer the key to the war, he was a _threat, _and he knew some probably thought he couldn't be trusted or wasn't that useful.

He was only Malfoy's mate -

_Oh._

---

The next time Malfoy's veela side seemed particularly dominant and protective, Harry asked him where he had been going lately, because Harry was just ever so lonely.

Malfoy said he had been meeting up with some old school friends, then seemed to shake himself away. He pushed Harry into the mattress, and it was terrible, but Harry had _won _that round.

The next time Malfoy flooed, Harry spied from the shadows, and listened to the address. He followed to a store, and then tracked Malfoy through a crowd for _miles, _and it would've been horrid trying to remain quiet, but Harry had had years of training with Aurors, and he knew how to track. For a veela, Malfoy was _hopelessly _easy to follow.

He discovered the location of the unofficial Death Eater's gathering - not that time, but the second time he tracked Malfoy.

He smiled when Malfoy came home and followed him to the bedroom with the smallest upturn of his lips.

---

Harry tracked Malfoy for two months and eventually figured out how to latch onto Malfoy while he was apparating, even when Harry was hiding, invisibility charms in place, in the shadows. He felt the bond between them lurch as Malfoy moved to Apparate, and he pulled on it, and followed.

He could go to actual Death Eater's meetings now, even the ones when they were called by the mark.

---

He wrote Dumbledore that he had important plans for the war and was admonished to stay away until he was needed to cast the final spell.

---

Harry would've asked for the Order's help, but he knew he didn't have their support. He would've asked for Ron and Hermione's help, but he didn't know where they lived anymore, and they hadn't spoken for years.

It wasn't as though they were needed anyway.

----

One night, after Malfoy was particularly viscous with Harry, Harry made his plans. It was odd, because for him, it wasn't the sex anymore than he considered to be vicious, though it certainly was. It was the rest of it - the forced closeness, being cut off from his friends, having to quit flying, the fact that his entire fate was decided by a veela state that he was fairly certain Malfoy exaggerated just to humiliate him now.

The next time Voldemort called Malfoy while Harry was nearby, he latched onto Malfoy's magic and their bond and came along. Instead of immediately apparating away from the destination (like he usually did) - it appeared to be the graveyard by Riddle's Mansion, the Death Eater's normal meeting spot - and watching from a distance, he lurked closer and closer, invisibility charms still in place. He knew Voldemort would be able to tell he was there if he was in a close proximity for more than just a moment.

It was strangely easy to quickly direct a killing curse at Voldemort after he finally apparated soundlessly behind Voldemort. The Death Eaters launched into chaos, when their master fell at random with no seen attacker, and Harry backed away to avoid the fallout and the possibility that someone would discover him.

Just as he was thinking his duty was done, from behind the mask of a Death Eater, Harry could see Malfoy's distinctive eyes stare at his own invisible form.

Harry remembered thinking it had been too easy to track Malfoy here, because Malfoy should've been able to sense him, especially when Harry's magic had latched onto his own. He remembered thinking it was a trap, because he was always _so _trapped. He had dismissed the thought eventually though. After all, why would Malfoy help _him? _

The Death Eaters were panicking now and apparating away, and Harry wondered sardonically how long it would take before the rest of the world would realize Voldemort was dead and if his body could just lay there forever. Would Dumbledore and his Order just continue battling an enemy that was already dead?

The war wasn't over - but Harry's duty was. The prophecy was completed. He never had to do anything _for the war _again.

From across a graveyard, Draco nodded at Harry as Harry apparated back to their home.

_Finis._


End file.
